> Okay, but now you're moving the goalposts. First it was "we don’t manufacture," now it’s "we only assemble." Let’s not forget - it was the United States that invented the assembly line, revolutionizing global manufacturing.

Not really. Maybe I am not doing a good job communicating the point. It's about supply chain dependencies.

If the parts needed to make a Ford F150 were available from Europe, Latin America, China, Africa, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc., you have supply-chain flexibility and low probability of single-source exposure. It isn't about making everything here or in Europe. It's about not being in a situation where a failure of any kind (trade war, real war, pandemic, etc.) takes down your entire industrial based because you might have a 90% single-source dependency.

I was involved in developing technology for a program launched by the government of Singapore after the pandemic. They call it the 30x30 program.

During the pandemic, Singapore realized they only produce 6% of their food in the country. The pandemic stressed the one or two supply chains that --quite literally-- fed them. This was terrible and very dangerous in the long term. The 30x30 program was a result. The intent is to reach 30% in-country food production by 2030.

That's what I am talking about. Assembling isn't manufacturing when your entire manufacturing industry can be shuttered due to a highly monopolized supply chain.